Advice on great speakers

[TheLowSpark]

Hi,
I'm currently playing an Ashdown ABM EVO III 575 watt head, with an Ashdown 115 15" speaker cab.
My speaker got trashed at a recent gig, and I am looking to replace/upgrade.

The Ashdown stuff has Blueline speakers... but I am completely open to new ideas. Have been looking at Celestion and Eminence also.

Any advice people may be able to give on great sounding, hard-wearing speakers (15", 8 ohms, around 300 watts) would be awesome.

Thanks

[jimcroisdale]

Eminence 3015 (non LF) is the daddy for this application.

BUT, you'll have to measure the internal volume of your cabinet and maybe adjust the tuning to suit.

[RickenBoogie]

Thing is, a single 15 doesn't seem like it was enough before, or it would still be working. Replacing it with another 15 still leaves you with a single 15. Just go with a 2x15 if you need loud.

[TheLowSpark]

Yeah good point above.
I was thinking about pairing the 15" with a 2x10 ashdown cabinet for extra juice.
Thoughts?

And cheers for the eminence advice, they look the money.

[andbaggio]

Originally Posted by TheLowSpark

Yeah good point above.
I was thinking about pairing the 15" with a 2x10 ashdown cabinet for extra juice.
Thoughts?

And cheers for the eminence advice, they look the money.

I have the same bass amp you have and i have the two cabinets you are thinking to get.

To me the pairing is great. I used to use a 4x10 but the combination of 1x15 + 2x10 is better. I've got more frequency range.

Try it out.

[KrLe]

Originally Posted by andbaggio

I have the same bass amp you have and i have the two cabinets you are thinking to get.

To me the pairing is great. I used to use a 4x10 but the combination of 1x15 + 2x10 is better. I've got more frequency range.

Try it out.

I have problems with adjusting the sound with 4x10
And 1x15. Sound is not clear and I am not happy with it . What do you think you achieved with 2x10? Both boxes are 8 ohm?

[MuzikMan]

Originally Posted by RickenBoogie

Thing is, a single 15 doesn't seem like it was enough before, or it would still be working. Replacing it with another 15 still leaves you with a single 15. Just go with a 2x15 if you need loud.

A high excursion driver like the Kappalite 15 CAN get louder than many others out there. Not all drivers are created equal!

[will33]

Originally Posted by KrLe

I have problems with adjusting the sound with 4x10
And 1x15. Sound is not clear and I am not happy with it . What do you think you achieved with 2x10? Both boxes are 8 ohm?

The sound never will be as clear as using all identical speakers.

[BassmanPaul]

Originally Posted by KrLe

I have problems with adjusting the sound with 4x10
And 1x15. Sound is not clear and I am not happy with it . What do you think you achieved with 2x10? Both boxes are 8 ohm?

A 1x15 cannot keep up with a 4x10 in any regard. I'm not surprised you are having trouble balancing them. The 1x15 is a weak link you should avoid.

A 1x15 and a 2x10 have about the same capabilities so pair better. That said for most folk adding a 1x15 is about getting better lows from the larger cone. This is a complete myth. The size of the cone alone has nothing to do with its frequency response. If it did PJB with 5" drivers wouldn't have any lows whatsoever.

[dog1]

12's, 12's, 12's. Why does it seem like most think that only 15's or 10's are suitable for bass? Forget the 1-15 + 2-10 thing. Get a couple of 112 cabs, or a 212. Problem solved.

How many threads on this? I don't know



I would put these up against ANY 115 + 210 rigs available. Hands down

[dog1]

Originally Posted by BassmanPaul

A 1x15 cannot keep up with a 4x10 in any regard. I'm not surprised you are having trouble balancing them. The 1x15 is a weak link you should avoid.

A 1x15 and a 2x10 have about the same capabilities so pair better. That said for most folk adding a 1x15 is about getting better lows from the larger cone. This is a complete myth. The size of the cone alone has nothing to do with its frequency response. If it did PJB with 5" drivers wouldn't have any lows whatsoever.

Right on!!

[winegamd]

Which model Ashdown 1x15 do you have? I can model the cabinet with different speakers and give you a recommendation on what would work the best, but i need to know the size of the cab, internal bracing dimensions, and vent/port dimensions. The Eminence Kappalite 3015LF is a bad mother, but it needs to breath, and usually takes more port area due to the higher Xmax. If your box is not big enough there might not be enough room for a speaker and the ports. Beyma and Faital also make monster speakers, but you pay for them. Also, what are your tone goals? This will effect the speaker choice and tuning.

If you have a 99db 1x15 that can handle an excursion limited 700 watts vs a 96db 4x10 that can handle an excursion limited 500 watts, which one is going to sound louder? There is way more to "loud" than diameter and configuration. Most 10's sound louder than 12's or 15's because they can play higher into our sensitivity zone. Most 10's can play 3k-4khz before they start to roll off. Most 12's roll off from 2k-3khz and 15's roll off from 1.5k-2khz. Since the 10's have more sonic content in the 2-4khz range that our ears are sensitive to, they sound louder. This is why you have to decide, do you want low thunderous growl, or do you want woody punchy throaty grind? That is the difference between 10's and 15's. The 12, of course, is in the middle.

To make low frequencies efficiently you need to move a lot of air, PERIOD. The better the piston pump you have, the more air you can move, and the more lows you can produce. A comon 15" with 4mm excursion can move 4710 cumm of air. A common 10" with the same excursion moves 3,140 cumm. A 12" moves 3,768 cumm. The only problem is most 15's have 4-6mm excursion, most 10's 3-4mm, and most 12's 3-4mm. That is why you have to start adding more cones, and you still have to deal with power compression.

This is starting to get way off topic, but you get the idea. Put the dimensions on here and I will give you some choices of speaker that will rock. However, in the end, it may be cheaper to get another cab. We will see.